


52 Birthdays with Lou

by whisper_thy_story



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Friendship, Love, Reality, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2018-01-10 22:54:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1165558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whisper_thy_story/pseuds/whisper_thy_story
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For you Larry Stylinson Fans, I just wanted to make it easier for you to read it. I know it's hard for me to read this on my phone, so I just put it here and give all the credit to<br/>http://sometimesitshardtograsp.tumblr.com/post/16867200652/52-birthdays-with-lou<br/>On Tumblr. All the work belongs to him and I don't take credit for anything.</p>
    </blockquote>





	52 Birthdays with Lou

**Author's Note:**

> For you Larry Stylinson Fans, I just wanted to make it easier for you to read it. I know it's hard for me to read this on my phone, so I just put it here and give all the credit to  
> http://sometimesitshardtograsp.tumblr.com/post/16867200652/52-birthdays-with-lou  
> On Tumblr. All the work belongs to him and I don't take credit for anything.

**16**

 

When Harry turns sixteen, and the cake is placed in front of him, he is a bit unsure of what to wish for.

 

He’s surrounded by family, a tamer party compared to the one his friends had thrown for him the night before, that had left him hangover and cranky for his actual birthday, so a small part of him wishes he could time travel back in time and avoid agreeing to the party, that had seemed like such a good idea at the time.

 

Unfortunately, Harry has realized, in his long sixteen years of age, that time travel isn’t possible, even with the magic of birthday candles.

 

So instead, he stares into the twinkling flames of the candle, his Mum snapping photos on the other end of the table, and wishes for one thing.

 

Love.

 

**17**

When Harry turns seventeen he’s just finished what is arguably the greatest adventure of his lifetime, and is feeling a bit down actually, as he realizes that his life has probably peaked at the young age of sixteen.

 

Now seventeen didn’t seem like such a big deal at all. 

 

He’s back at home for the day, after much insisting on his Mother’s part who had made it quite clear, that although she was asking, it wasn’t a question. He was to be home for his birthday.

 

And so there he was, at the same table he’d stood at the year before, looking at the same, melted candles, and facing the same dilemma.

 

Because what do you wish for when you finally feel like you have everything you’ve ever wanted?

 

And that is when an image flashes through his head, a single, solo image of Louis, and he remembers what his wish from last year had been.

 

Love.

 

And so he bends over and blows out the candles, the same wish lingering in the air as candle smoke wafted in the air and his close relatives clapped and cheered.

 

All he needed now was love.

 

**18**

When Harry turns eighteen, he’s working.

 

Well, working and playing, because you don’t bring five boys to LA, no matter  _who_  they are and expect them to spend the whole time filming a TV show.

 

It’s kind of shitty, not being home to have his first legal drink on the day of his birthday, but he can’t bring himself to care too much, because it’s not like he hadn’t drunk before, and he didn’t expect the experience or the hangover following it to be much different, just because he was legal.

 

Louis is the one who wakes him up in the morning, and the second the ‘Happy Birthday’ slips out of his mouth, as he throws a pillow at Harry’s mop of curls, Harry remembers his wish from last year.

 

Love.

 

And he thinks, for the first time, that maybe, just  _maybe_ , he’s found it. But he wishes once more, just in case.

 

**19**

When Harry turns nineteen he’s really at a lost of what to wish for, because the wish that he’d used for the past two years, had finally been granted.

 

He’s found love.

 

Harry spends the day with all the boys, and that night Louis and him return to their flat, after a long day of pretending to be nothing more than close friends. Because that’s all they are to the public and that’s all they re to the boys and their family.

 

But once the door closes, and Harry finds himself alone in Louis’ room, as the older boy strips him of each of his articles of clothing, that is when Harry is reminded that he has found love.

 

It’s hidden, for now, but it’s there.

 

Louis brings him a cupcake, he didn’t make it because Harry had forbidden him from the kitchen after an incident in November, but it’s still a nice gesture. He hands it to him that night, right before the last minute of his birthday passes, as they lay in bed and Harry gazes at the single candle, pondering what to wish for.

 

It isn’t as hard as it had been the previous years, as Louis caresses his body He blew out the candle with his one, simply wish.

 

Come out with Louis.

 

**20**

 

When Harry turns twenty, he and Louis have just come out publically a month or so before, and are still in the midst of the backlash.

 

There is more than Harry expected, but less than Louis expected, so it’s a happy medium of sorts. But because of the drama, Harry didn’t want to leave the flat, so instead Louis invites everyone to their place.

 

It’s packed, bodies everywhere. Louis’ sisters are climbing on Niall, and his Mum is crying in a corner because ‘Her baby isn’t a teenager’, and Zayn is getting drunk with Gemma, and Louis is clutching his hand and grinning as he presents the cake.

 

“You can be a twenteen with me now!” Louis whispers into Harry’s year, as he stands behind the birthday boy who bends over the candles, staring at the light and contemplating what to wish for.

 

In the end, he keeps it simple. He doesn’t wish to be a twenteen with Louis.

 

He just wishes to stay with Louis.

 

**21**

When Harry turns 21, he realizes he’s happy.

 

They’re in America again for his twenty-first, which is kind of nice, because although Harry wasn’t able to have a celebratory ‘coming-of-age’ drink when he turned eighteen, he’s able to have an American one at twenty-one.

 

It isn’t anything special, just their hotel’s bar, surrounded by the boys and their security, which might as well have been family.

 

Liam’s finds that cupcake place, that has it’s own TV show, and there are five cupcakes, each with one of the boys’ face on it, modeled with fondant.

 

Harry can’t really take it seriously, staring down at the edible cartoon of himself that’s melting under the heat of the candle Louis had hastily stuffed through his cartoon’s eye, but he grins anyways, blowing out the candle.

 

Wishing for things to always be this happy.

 

**22**

When Harry turns twenty-two, he finds himself on the very top of the Eiffel Tower, looking down at the city of Paris, a familiar hand wrapped around his own.

 

“Happy birthday Harry,” Louis whispers into his ear, his breath warm against his cold skin. Harry turns around and grins, looking down at the cupcake Louis was cradling in his hands.

 

Harry rolls his eyes, “Really?”

 

“It’s tradition,” Louis insists and with a sigh Harry leans over the cupcake, biting his lip as he stared down at the flickering flame.

 

“Can I wish for you?” Harry whispers, staring down at the cupcake and Louis laughs.

 

“You already have me!” he says, before his smile drops, “But you can’t say what you wish out loud, or else it won’t come true.”

 

So Harry silently blows out the candles, this time wishing to keep Louis.

 

Forever.

 

**23**

When Harry turns twenty-three, he and Louis have been drifting apart for a long while. Harry can’t pin point the exact day it happened, or even why it happened, but he does know that since October, he’d seen Louis less and less.

 

There’s rumors of them breaking up, which haven’t exactly helped anything. The band hasn’t done anything new, so the fans speculation could just be from lack of seeing the boys out in public promoting anything together.

 

They had no way of seeing behind closed door, but if they did, Harry is sure they would think the same thing anyways.

 

Louis calls him the night of his birthday; Harry has spent the whole day at the flat, waiting for Louis to surprise him with a party, or sex or even just a cupcake.

                 

 “I won’t make it home tonight,” Louis says, and Harry thinks he hears a distant giggle on Louis’ end of the line, but he might just be imagining it. “I’m sorry.”

 

So Harry spends his twenty-third birthday shoving a candle into a leftover sandwich he find in their refrigerator and wishing for Louis to come back to him.

 

**24**

When Harry turns twenty-four, he and Louis have been broken up for four months, and it still isn’t any easier.

 

He answers a call from his Mother that day, and lets the rest go to voicemail like he normally does. That night he catches a cab to one of the gay strip clubs on the sketchy side of town, and blows out a candle that is stuck in the pretzel bowl of the private table he’s seated at alone.

 

His wish doesn’t come true that year.

 

**25**

When Harry turns twenty-five he wishes for the same thing, but nothing changes in those 365 days, and by the time day 364 came around Harry is resigned to his fate, that his twenty-sixth birthday will be just as bad as his twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth.

 

**26**

When Harry turns twenty-six, he finds himself both right and wrong about his prediction for his twenty-sixth birthday.

 

He still doesn’t have Louis back, but Niall, Liam and Zayn insist they meet up for dinner and drinks.

 

The band never officially broke up, but they certainly didn’t recover from Harry and Louis’ untimely breakup. No plans for another album or tour in the horizon, it was like they’d just dropped off the radar.

 

And Harry didn’t even care.

 

“You need to eat more Harry,” Liam lectures, the second he wrapped Harry in a hug and Harry groans, leading the way into a restaurant where he eats more than he has eaten at a meal, since his breakup with Louis two years ago.

 

Niall orders a piece of chocolate cake for Harry, while Harry is in the restroom, and when he returns everyone is clapping and cheering for him to blow out the single candle that is crooked in the cake.

 

He makes the same wish.

 

**28**

When Harry turns twenty-eight, Liam and Danielle throw him a party at their new house. It’s nice, and homey, and Harry can already picture their kids running about the house.

 

Danielle is sporting a flashy ring on her finger, and Harry makes sure to compliment her on it a few dozen times, while looking over the heads of the people in the room, looking for the tussled hair.

 

“He’s not coming mate,” Niall mutters from behind him and Harry’s shoulders sag as he accepts the drink Niall hand him. “But I’ve got him on the phone.”

 

Harry’s eyes fall to Niall’s hand, which is gripping his iPhone and Harry tentatively reaches for it, holding it up to his ear.

 

“Harry,” Louis says, and Harry swore he’d forgotten what Louis’ voice sounded like, after three years of silent treatment, but after he hears it once, it all comes flooding back to him.

 

The warmth and happiness that dripped from each of his words.

 

“Happy Birthday,” Louis whispers, and nothing much more is said, but when Danielle brings the birthday cake, Harry doesn’t hesitate to blow out the candles, his wish already formed firmly in his mind.

 

Make things right with Louis.

 

**29**

When Harry turns twenty-nine he has spent a year trying to reconcile with Louis, who had moved out to LA to pursue, a quite successful career in film acting.

 

Niall invites Louis to Harry’s twenty-ninth, which is thrown in a private ball room at The Ritz, but Louis politely declines, which sent Harry into a wave of depression up until the second before his party was supposed to begin when his phone rang in his pocket.

 

“Harry,” Louis greets, and Harry’s heart pounds in his chest. It used to be so normal, to hear Louis’ voice, but now it seems so rare. Just a little prize he gets to enjoy every couple of weeks or so. Something to treasure more than life itself. “I miss you.”

 

None of the gifts Harry receive that day compare to the gift of Louis’ three words, and when he’s bent over candles once again, it takes him only a second of deliberation before he decides on his wish.

 

Get Louis back.

 

**30**

When Harry turns thirty he spends the majority of the day on the phone with his hysterical mother, who can’t grasp the idea that her baby is so old.

 

So after spend a few hours convincing his Mother that just because he is older, doesn’t mean she is old, which is a boldface lie, Harry really doesn’t have the energy to go to the last minute party Zayn has insisted on throwing at his bachelor’s pad on the other side of London.

 

Nonetheless he puts on his game face and arrives to the almost empty apartment. Only four people stand in the flat, but his eyes immediately fall on one.

 

Louis stands sheepishly, cupcake cradled in his hands as he smiles shyly at Harry, for the first time in person in six years.

 

“Happy birthday Hazza,” He whispers, and Harry doesn’t mean to cry, but shit happens.

 

That year he wishes to keep Louis, for a lifetime, and this time around, his wish is granted.

 

**31**

When Harry turns thirty-one he and Louis are on week two of their ‘let’s try taking this slow’ relationship ‘take two’ thing they’re trying.

 

Which is why Louis suggests they don’t go out in the public eye, “Just in case things end badly.”

 

So instead Harry insists they watch Louis’ latest movie, which is nothing more than a cheap Indie Movie, but still fun and still entertaining.

  
“Who would’ve thought you’d end up on the big screen,” Harry mutters and Louis laughs, leaning in and pecking Harry’s lips before getting up and returning with a single cupcake.

 

“Louis!” Harry cries and Louis rolls his eyes.

 

“Tradition.”

 

“Traditions can change,” Harry insists and Louis scoffs.

 

“Then they’re shitty traditions. Harry, just make your wish.”

 

So Harry wishes that everything between he and Louis would work out.

 

**32**

When Harry turns thirty-two, Liam’s newborn daughter gets an invite to the party. So there’s not as much drinking and not as much partying, but Harry still has a damn good time, bouncing the baby in his arms.

 

“I want one,” he declares turning to Louis who pales, draining the rest of his drink and kissing Harry’s forehead playfully.

 

“You’re just a baby yourself, you can’t have one too!” he exclaims and Harry rolls his eyes, pulling little Natalie closer to him and cooing down at her.

 

That year he wishes to start his own family.

 

**33**

When Harry turns thirty-three he’s a bit closer to his last birthday wish, because he and Louis are officially married. Which is nice, not only for Medical Insurance reasons, but also because Harry feels a bit more secure in he and Louis’ relationship.

 

Dating someone isn’t necessarily forever, but marriage, well that was forever. At least in Harry’s mind.

 

Louis purchased two tickets for an exclusive week cruise, and Harry spends his thirty-third birthday on the Atlantic Ocean, watching the sunset set over the calm ocean, with Louis.

 

There’s a cake, not a cupcake this time, thanks to the dining service on the cruise, and Harry bites his lip as he stares down at the candles.

 

He repeats his wish from last year, but this time he’s pretty sure it’ll come true.

 

**34**

When Harry turns thirty-four, they invite their very pregnant surrogate to the party. Harry’s Mum comes along too and spends the whole time fussing over Jane, who’s being quite a sport with everyone who insists on coming up and feeling the baby kick.

 

It’s a girl, Harry’s not supposed to know, because Louis doesn’t want to know, but he found out anyways and the secret is slowly warring him down. But he only has to make it one more month, and he figures he can do that.

 

Liam’s daughter, Natalie, toddles around the house and Harry lifts her into his arms, bouncing her along as he walks towards the cake.

 

“Will you help me blow out these candles?” he asks and Natalie nods enthusiastically, as Harry bends down with her in his arms, closer to the cake.

 

Natalie doesn’t blow many out on her own, but Harry manages pretty well, sending smoke swirling into the air as Natalie giggles delightedly in his arms.

 

All Harry wishes for that year is for his daughter to be as healthy and happy as Natalie.

 

**35**

When Harry turns 35, he finds himself once again at his childhood home. Louis’ flight home from Spain, where he was filming his latest movie, got canceled, so instead of going out and celebrating with his husband, Harry is stuck celebrating with his Mother, Step-Father and baby daughter.

 

He can’t complain too much though, because Louis calls in just to sing Happy Birthday with everyone, his Mother crying as she bounces Michelle in her arms and watches her baby blow out thirty-five candles.

 

Harry wishes for Louis’ safe return home, and the next day Louis walks through the door apologetic and ready to fuck. So Harry’s pretty sure that wish is granted too.

 

**36**

When Harry turns thirty-six, all three of the Style-Tomlinson family members are ill with some form of the flu, that Harry is convinced Niall brought into the household, after spending the weekend with them.

 

He’s cuddled up on the couch with Louis for the majority of the day, Michelle sleeping in her playpen just a few feet away, and he can’t really stomach the idea of cake, even as Louis brings it to him.

 

“At least make a wish,” Louis says, his voice rough and scratchy from his sore throat and Harry sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to reduce his headache as he stares at the flame.

 

All he wants is to feel better, so he wastes a wish on that. It’s granted a few days, and quite a few pills later.

 

**37**

When Harry turns thirty-seven, Zayn has just recently married a girl named Mary, who’s a model. She isn’t all that interesting to talk to, there isn’t much there, but Zayn loves her, and that’s really enough for everyone else.

 

She’s in love with kids though, so it’s easy to convince her to watch Michelle, allowing Louis and Harry to go out for Harry’s birthday.

 

It isn’t much, just a nice dinner and then a show, but Harry can’t remember the last time it had been just the two of them. Louis was busy filming and Harry was busy raising Michelle and working on small projects with Niall on the side, so any time they got alone together was treasured.

 

That night at dinner, Harry blows out his candle, wishing for nothing more than to fuck Louis’ brains out, without the fear of Michelle waking up in the middle of it all.

                 

No less than a minute after blowing out the candles, Louis mentions that he’s got a hotel room for them tonight, and that’s when Harry decided that Louis is probably magical.

 

Or just as horny as he was.

 

**38**

When Harry turns 38, they’ve got another surrogate, who’s wandering around the party, allowing Michelle and Natalie to fuss over the baby in her stomach.

 

Zayn’s got a new baby himself who he’s proudly showing off, and Harry tries to push down the jealousy of Zayn having a son.

 

He knows Louis wants a son, so he’s trying to remain neutral, just in case the baby is a girl, but deep inside, all he wants is for the baby to be the son Louis has always craved.

 

So he doesn’t feel too guilt, blowing out his candles with the help of Michelle and Natalie, as he wished for a baby boy.

 

**39**

When Harry turn thirty-nine, Niall combines his stag party and Harry’s birthday into one big night, all planned by Liam and Louis.

 

“She’s a lucky girl, Niall,” Harry slurs, stumbling towards Niall, his sixth or so drink sloshing around in his hand and Niall laughs, throwing a heavy arm around Harry’s shoulder.

 

“Louis’ a luck boy!” he cries back and Harry giggles, looking at Louis who is arguing with Liam, over something trivial in the distance.

 

Louis may be lucky, but Harry is even luckier, he’s sure of it.

 

That night the cake is brought out and Harry is less selfish with his wish this time. This time he wishes for Niall to be as happy as him.

 

 

 

**40**

When Harry turns forty, his Mum agrees to watch the kids for a weekend, and Harry and Louis fly out to the Caribbean for a few days.

 

It’s a peacefully calm, and refreshing to be away from crayons, and juice boxes, and car seats but Harry still looks forward to skyping with the kids every night, just to make sure they’re holding up.

 

Louis rolls his eyes, but Harry know he enjoys seeing their grinning faces over the computer just as much as he does.

 

The night of his birthday is spent mostly in their hotel room, and Louis only leaves Harry alone in bed long enough to order a piece of cake from room service, returning to him and giving him present after present until room service knocks on their door.

 

Harry and Louis walk out to their balcony, which overlooks the ocean, wrapped in white fluffy robes, and Louis sets the cake on the glass table in front of Harry.

 

He doesn’t know what to wish for this year, he feels like he has it all, and he voices this fear to Louis who shrugs.

 

“Just wish for everyone to stay healthy,” he suggests and Harry nods, blowing out the candles.

 

But the wish is said out loud, so it can’t be granted.

 

**41**

When Harry turns forty-one, Zayn’s story had just been leaked to the press a week before, so he politely declines the invitation of dinner at Liam’s house.

 

Instead the adults spend the majority of the meal in depressed silence, mumbling about the diagnosis.

 

“The Doctor said eight months,” Niall whispers, and his wife rested her hand on his hand.

 

Harry stares down at his full plate, no longer hungry as the idea that Zayn wouldn’t be alive to see Harry hit 42, hits him.

 

So that year, Harry blows out the candle and wishes harder than ever for Zayn to live to see Harry reach 42.

 

**42**

On Harry’s forty-second birthday, Zayn’s in attendance, beanie covering his bald head, but grinning as he sits in Niall’s living room and watches his son, Edward, Natalie, Michelle, and Niall’s daughter, Mandy, run about the room.

 

“Hey,” Zayn says suddenly, and Harry looks around to see who Zayn’s talking to, but he’s the only person in the room other than the four kids under the age of seven, so he decides it’s probably him. “If I’m not around to see you reach 43-“

 

“Zayn-“

 

“Harry, just, promise me you’ll still invite Mary and Edward. Edwards thinks of you as family and-“

 

“Don’t be stupid Zayn,” Harry snaps, and he stands up and leaves the room before Zayn can get another word out.

 

He finds Louis in the kitchen, laughing with Niall and Liam, and interrupts their conversation as he crashes into Louis, clutching onto him and not letting go, just like he had when they were teenagers on the X-Factor.

 

And Louis does the same thing he always did, and continues on the conversation, petting Harry’s curls until Harry finally gets a grip on himself and joins the conversation, Liam and Niall glancing knowingly at each other.

 

That birthday he wishes again, for Zayn to see his next birthday, but apparently wishes can’t be repeated.

 

**43**

When Harry turns forty-three, Zayn’s funeral is still fresh on everyone’s mind, so he is pretty sure no one is in the mood for a big party.

 

Instead he takes the kids to the zoo, Michelle taking pictures of the entire adventure on the camera Louis and Harry had given her for Christmas.

 

They pose for one picture, in front of the donkeys, and Zach remarks that donkeys like carrots, which sends Harry on a trip down memory lane to their X-Factor days.

 

He feels exceptionally old after that, and as he blows out the candles that night, he wishes desperately for time to freeze.

 

But just like you can’t time travel, you can’t freeze time either.

 

**44**

When Harry turns forty-four, he remembers Zayn’s request and invites Mary and Edward, as well as Liam’s family and Niall’s family, over for a simple dinner at home.

 

He feels quite mature, reclined in a lawn chair in their back lawn, watching the kids play with the snow on the ground. He winces as Zach falls face first into a pile and stands up to interfere before a tantrum starts, but Natalie, who’s turning out to be quite a pretty young girl, helps him up and entertains him with a toy before the tears start.

 

“Look how smart your daughter is, must take after her Mother,” he whispers to Liam, who’s standing behind him and sipping his beer. “In looks too. She’s going to be a heartbreaker Liam.”

 

Liam sighs and shakes his head, “Don’t I know it. Yours too though, Michelle? You’re going to have to beat the boys off her with a stick.”

 

Harry doesn’t particularly like the idea of boys dating his daughter, so that afternoon, when the cake is presented in front of him, Harry makes his wish very clear.

 

He wishes for no boy to ever come near his baby girl.

 

 **45**  

 

When Harry turns 45, Louis and him load the kids up on a plane and fly out to the Caribbean. It’s not as romantic as the time he and Lou went alone for his birthday, but it’s still fun.

 

Harry spends the day watching Zach and Louis splash around in the ocean, while Michelle tans on the chair next to him, in a bathing suit that Harry doesn’t approve of her wearing, but doesn’t have the nerve to tell say no to.

 

“Dad!” Zach runs up to him, dripping wet and shaking his hair so that droplets rain down on him, “Can we do cake now! I’m starving!”

 

“Me too!” Louis whines, behind his son, smirking and Harry rolls his eyes but agrees.

 

They do cake in the coffee café that’s located in their hotel, and Zach bounces excitedly as he watches Louis light the candles.

 

Michelle inherited the talent of singing, but rarely sang for them, so Harry grins as he hears his daughter’s lovely quiet voice sing Happy Birthday before he blows out the candles, making his wish.

 

He wishes for Michelle to find something she loved, just as her fathers had.

 

 **46**  

 

When Harry turns forty-six, Michelle is off at boarding school in Scotland, so it’s just the boys. Which makes it a perfect day for a football game and dinner at a local pub, nothing complicated.

 

However, Louis’ movie has just premiered a few weeks before, so the paps are at an all time high, rivaling that of their glory days in One Direction, and Zach moans and whines the whole day about not being able to enjoy the game or dinner thanks to the flashing camera lights that give him a headache.

 

Zach’s complaining wears Harry down, so by the time they finally return home, Harry himself isn’t in the greatest of moods. Louis sends Zach upstairs for a nap, or at least some quiet time, and leads Harry by the hand into the bedroom where he closes the door and makes use of their couple of hours of silence while Zach slept on obliviously upstairs.

 

On his forty-sixth birthday, Harry wishes for Zach to just hurry up and turn twelve, so Harry and Louis can send him to school and have more of that treasured free time.

 

**48**

When Harry turned forty-eight, Louis is away in America filming a movie, so he takes Zach with him to visit Gemma.

 

His niece and nephew entertain Zach, and Gemma drags her little brother into the living room and quizzes him about everything in his life, ranging from he and Niall’s latest band they were managing to how the sex life with Louis, who was constantly away filming these days was.

 

“Once Zach is gone, I’ll be able to travel with him,” He mumbles, after Gemma commented how it was healthy, him leaving Harry so often.

 

She nods, but Harry knows she still doesn’t believe him, which makes him feel uncomfortable.

 

She bakes him a homemade cake, with chocolate icing and sprinkles, and Zach helps him blow out the candles.

 

He wishes for Louis to not miss anymore of his birthdays, and that wish comes true.

 

**49**

When Harry turns forty-nine, Louis has a premier for his latest movie scheduled, so Harry spends the night on the red carpet, clinging to Louis’ side as he grins and smiles for the camera and interviews.

 

A few ask questions to Harry, about his production company, but most just focus on Louis, and Harry realizes how much happier he’s been, since fading from the limelight.

 

Relaxing by Louis’ side and listening to him deal with the press, was much nicer than the days when Harry had been bombarded with question after question, while at events with the boys.

 

“I don’t miss this,” Harry whispers into Louis’ ear, as the two walk inside the cinema and Louis grins, pecking Harry’s lips and tugging him along.

 

“Well I miss having you there, it was nice, tonight,” he whispers back and Harry grins at his husband and love of his life.

 

That night he blows out the candles and wishes to be by Louis’ side more.

 

**50**

When Harry turned fifty, his midlife crisis hit him right on time.

 

He spends the majority of his birthday on his laptop, looking at cars and motorcycles that he can afford to buy, but Louis has seen this coming and has frozen their accounts until he’s sure Harry’s crisis has passed.

 

It’s his last birthday with Zach home, so he makes sure that Zach sticks around at home, despite the moody preteens protests that “it’s uncool” to hang out with his Dad, “even if it is his birthday.”

 

He makes Zach sit through as many videos as he can find of One Direction during the X-Factor days, as he reminisces on the past, and it’s finally Louis who puts a stop to it, muttering that Zach looks like he’s about to die of boredom.

 

“You’re so uncool Dad,” Zach mutters, once the video is turned off, “Just let go of the past.”

 

“Zach!” Louis exclaims but Harry has to agree a bit with Zach, because maybe it is time to let those days go.

 

So he wishes, as he blows out his candles at their kitchen table, to be able to let go of the longing to return to the past. And in some ways it comes true.

 

**51**

 

When Harry turns fifty-one, Zach and Michelle are both away at school, which means there’s nobody stopping Harry and Louis from doing whatever the fuck they want.

 

And fuck is the key word.

 

However, Harry’s finally aware that he may be aging, because by the end of the day, he’s tired and sore, and all he really wants is to cuddle by the fire and eat cake.

 

So that’s what they do, and Harry blows out the candles and wishes that they could fuck like they used to, in their twenties, in hotel rooms as they toured with the band.

 

But he’d just have to learn how to make do.

 

**52**

When Harry turns fifty-two, it’s the first birthday he has to spend without a phone call from his Mum, and it’s tougher than he’d thought it would be.

 

Louis seems to have predicted this, so he invites Niall and Liam over, and provides a lot of alcohol that works on taking the edge of the pain away.

 

Niall mentions how hot his Mum was, right until her last moments, and from anyone else that would’ve been insensitive, but even at 52, Niall is still loveably clueless, so instead it’s hilarious and exactly what Harry needs.

 

Louis forgets a cake, something that Liam gives him shit for, for a solid hour, while Niall scrambles around the kitchen and cooks a pancake to stick a candle in.

 

The boys sing, and even after all these years, Harry hasn’t quite gotten used to not hearing Zayn’s voice mixed in with the boys.

 

He blows out the candles and hopes his Mum and Zayn are happy, wherever they are.

 

**53**

When Harry turns fifty-three, he and Louis fly to America to visit Michelle who’s studying biochemical engineering at Stanford.

 

Harry can’t tell you what it is, or what it’s for, but he can say that he’s never been prouder in his life, listening to Michelle blabber on about things he can’t understand for the life of him.

 

“Do you regret not going to University Daddy?” She asks him and Harry shrugs, glancing at Louis who pulls a face.

 

“Now that you’re in University, I can say no,” He decides and Michelle laughs over her tea, in the small café she dragged her father to. “But I’m proud of you darling.”

                 

His daughter blushes sheepishly and Louis laughs, reaching out and tousling her hair, until she groans and squirms away.

 

Harry orders a small brownie from the café, and Louis shoves a toothpick into it, lighting it with his lighter, despite Michelle’s cries of protests and Harry laughs.

 

He wishes for Michelle to have few regrets in her life, and then attempts to blow out the flame, unsuccessfully until Louis pours his tea of the it, ruining the brownie but saving the café from burning to the ground.

 

**54**

When Harry turns fifty-four, no one feels like celebrating. The headlines and magazine articles are still everywhere, declaring the car accident an absolute tragedy. It hurts Harry to get up in the morning, knowing he won’t see the crooked grin every morning at work.

 

It hurts Harry to know that only one of his three best mates will be coming to his birthday anymore.

 

Liam brings a lot of alcohol, which kind of helps, but mostly the boys just sit around the TV silently, getting drunk and watching old clips from their teenage past.

 

Harry wants to cry, but doesn’t. Instead he blows out the candles of his cake and wishes that Zayn and Niall are together, wherever they are, playing music and waiting for their other band members to join them.

 

**55**

When Harry turns fifty-five, Michelle returns home on a plane in tears, the night before, pregnant.

 

So Harry spends the majority of his fifty-fifth birthday trying to keep Louis from flying to The States and murdering a bloke, and trying to comfort his twenty-one year old daughter who can’t form a coherent sentence without breaking down into sobs.

 

He doesn’t blow out candles that night, he doesn’t even have a cake, but when he finally crawls into bed that night, after sitting with Michelle until she fell asleep, he wishes harder than ever, for Michelle to make the right choice.

 

And she does.

 

**56**

When Harry turns fifty-six, he’s a grandfather and Michelle is living at the house and finishing her studies back in London, which means Harry’s doing the whole ‘raising a baby’ thing again.

 

Thomas is a good baby though, unlike Michelle and Zach, who cried through the nights, and Harry figures that’s probably God’s gift to him, for having to deal with the situation in the first place.

 

Michelle bakes him a cake for his birthday, and pecks him on the cheek, leaving it on the counter as she flies out the door to catch her first class of the day.

 

Louis wakes up a couple of hours later, while Harry is bouncing Thomas in his arms, and Louis kisses both their foreheads before wrapping his arms around Harry’s middle and putting his lips right next to Harry’s ears.

 

“Happy Birthday Old Man,” He whispers and Harry’s heart flutters, as he turns around and catches Louis’ lips in his own, Thomas still squirming in his arms.

 

They do cake early that day, before noon, and Louis watches amused, bouncing Thomas in his arms as Harry contemplates his wish.

 

He finally decides on one and blows the flames out, as he wishes for Thomas to be the only grandchild for a long  _long_ time.

 

**57**

When Harry turns fifty-seven, Zach returns home just for the birthday, with a woman on his arm that he claims to be the one.

 

Michelle doesn’t like her because she claims her hair is dyed, and it probably is, but Harry thinks that’s a rather stupid reason not to like someone. He calls Liam last minute and asks him and Danielle to join family dinner, so he can get others opinions on Liza.

 

After a long dinner, which Harry thought went pretty smoothly, Zach, Liza and Michelle excuse themselves from the table, leaving the older generation to gossip.

 

“Her hair is dyed,” Danielle states and Louis rolls his eyes.

 

“Why does that matter?” He asks and Danielle shrugs, standing up and walking into the kitchen for the cake. Louis rolls his eyes again, “Fifty-Nine years on this planet and I still don’t understand a thing about girls.”

 

“Yeah,” Harry mutters, patting his knee affectionately, “That’s why you’re gay.”

 

Liam snorts as he took a sip of wine, “I like her,” He says and Harry nods in agreement.

 

Danielle returns with the cake and lights the candles, and Harry blows them out with one blow, having mastered the art of blowing out candles.

 

He wishes for Zach to find someone, Liza or not, as good as Louis.

 

**58**

When Harry turns fifty-eight, Zach’s proposed, and Michelle isn’t talking to him, so the family dinner is more than a bit awkward.

 

Harry spends the majority of the dinner trying to hold two different conversations and Louis spends the majority sulking in his chair.

 

“We come together for a family meal, for your Dad’s birthday, don’t you think you could act like a family,” Louis finally snaps, halfway through the meal and Michelle rolls her eyes. As if on cue, Thomas cries from upstairs and she tosses her napkin aside as she hurries out of the room.

 

“At least I don’t have a baby!” Zach yells and Louis turns to glare at his son.

 

“Zach!” He admonishes and Zach sighs, pushing his chair back and sulking out of the room.

 

Harry looks at the two empty spots at the table and sighs, massaging his forehead.

 

“I’m sorry Hazza,” Louis whispers and Harry just shakes his head, smiling sadly at Louis.

 

“When did our kids become so old?”

 

“Probably when we did,” Louis laughs, disappearing into the kitchen and returning with a single cupcake. “It’s tradition,” he says, when Harry rolls his eyes.

 

Harry leans over the candle and blows it out, wishing to be forever young.

 

But that wish doesn’t work anymore, when you’re no longer young.

 

**59**

When Harry turns fifty-nine, Liam calls to say that Danielle and him won’t be able to make it to dinner.

 

“She’s feeling a bit ill,” he says, but something in his voice catches and Harry’s heart pounds uncomfortably in his chest.

 

Something isn’t right, and he doesn’t like that. He feels older than ever.

 

Michelle moved out a few months ago, and Zach and Liza were living in a flat on the other side of town, so Louis takes Harry out for birthday dinner.

 

They go to an old restaurant they used to frequent, way before they had kids, and Harry looks around at all the young people on dates.

 

He feels even older.

 

“Do I look old?” He asks suddenly, and Louis pauses, his fork halfway raised to his mouth.

 

“You look just as good to me as you did when I first met you at boot camp,” Louis says, with overpowering amounts of sincerity in his eyes. Harry swallows thickly and manages a smile, reaching out and covering Louis’ hand with his own.

 

That night he wishes to learn to be as loving as Louis.

 

**60**

When Harry turns sixty, Zach’s wedding is quite literally, only a week or so away, so most of his festivities are lost in the frantic planning.

 

Liza’s parents are relatively poor, or maybe just comparatively, it’s hard for Harry to tell sometimes, but regardless, they’re footing the bill for the wedding, which means people keep coming to him with questions.

 

But to be frank, he doesn’t quite care where the ice sculpture goes or what color paper the pamphlets are printed on.

 

He just wants Zach happy.

 

Harry ends up spending the majority of his day hiding in the study, on the other side of the house, avoiding the fights Louis is getting into with Michelle over the phone, who’s still adamantly refusing to show up for the wedding.

 

He isn’t sure when his family had broken so much, but he really wants it back together. So that night, when Louis finds him in the study, cupcake in hand, Harry wishes for just that.

 

His family back.

 

**61**

When Harry turns sixty-one, Danielle’s illness has gotten even worst, and Liam calls in tears declaring it one of her last days.

 

So Harry spends his sixty-first birthday in the hospital, trying to smile for Danielle who’s clinging onto Liam’s hand, trying to appear brave in the face of death.

 

Natalie and Michelle sit together in the hallway, Zach joining them later in the afternoon, and in a sickening way, Harry is almost happy. His family is back together, at least in some way.

 

“I love you Harry,” Danielle says quietly, when Harry is alone in the room with her, Louis and Liam out at the cafeteria. “You’re a little brother to Liam, and he loves you. I’ve loved having you in my life.”

 

Harry grasps her hand, and tries not to cry as he bites his lip.

 

“Please don’t leave,” he whispers and Danielle sighs, using her thumb to wipe a few stray tears off of Harry’s face.

 

“You know, sometimes, even now, I still see that little sixteen year old kid from X-Factor. With the curly hair and massive crush,” she giggles, until she started coughing and Harry watches pitifully from the side of the bed.

 

“I’m glad you got your Prince Charming Harry,” She whispers, eyes closing and Harry sighes, gripping her hand again.

 

“I’m glad you got yours.”

 

When Harry leaves the hospital with Louis, late that night, he demands they stop for cake on the way home.

 

“Its tradition,” He mumbles and Louis nods in agreement.

 

He blows out the candles and wishes for Zayn and Niall to be there, when Danielle passes, to help her settle in.  It’s a nice thought, and it makes things a bit easier to bear when Liam calls the next morning, sobbing.

 

**62**

When Harry turns sixty-two, Zach and Liza have their first baby at the party. Well, party was a bit of an overstatement, it’s just Louis, Liam, Michelle, Thomas, Zach, Liza and the new baby, Madeline, but it’s his family.

 

Liam’s holding up a bit better, still looks a bit too thin and a bit too old for his age, but he smiles every now and then as he holds baby Madeline and that makes Harry smile, so he’s pretty sure his sixty-second birthday his one of the better ones he’s had in recent years.

 

He keeps his birthday wish simple, wishes for Liam to continue to recover from the love of his life’s passing, and then cuts into the cake, handing it to his greedy grandson who ends up with the majority of the chocolate smeared on his face.

 

Harry smiles at a distant memory of Zach, covered with chocolate and an even more distant memory of himself, around that age covered in chocolate.

 

Harry doesn’t feel sixty-two, he feels sixteen, especially that night when Louis and him disappear to their bedroom, alone in their oversized house.

 

**63**

 

 When Harry turns sixty-three, Louis begins to show the signs. It’s more obvious on his birthday, than ever before, because Louis just forgets.

 

It’s not that he forgets and then remembers, it’s that he goes the whole day without even acknowledging the fact that his husband had a birthday.

 

It’s only after Louis goes to sleep that Harry realizes he’s truly forgotten and he reaches for the phone and calls Liam, who brings up the idea.

 

Harry makes himself a birthday cake, late that night, and sticks candles in it, just so he can wish for the most important wish yet.

 

He stands alone in the dark kitchen, staring at the flickering flame over the hastily made cake and blows out the candle, wishing desperately that Liam was wrong.

 

Wishing desperately that Louis wasn’t showing signs of Alzheimer’s.

 

**64**

When Harry turns sixty-four, Louis has been diagnosed for ten months. It’s not awful yet, sometimes Louis will forget what day it was, and other times he’ll forget Michelle or Zach’s name, and once or twice he forgot entirely about One Direction, but for the most part he does pretty well.

 

It’s still hard for Harry, to sit there with Louis at dinner on his sixty-fourth birthday, to look at his husband, who at sixty-six was  _much_  to young to be dealing with the disease that had infiltrated him.

 

He wishes, that night, for Louis to make a miraculous recovery, but that’s just not how reality works.

 

**65**

When Harry turns sixty-five, Louis is having a good day, compared to the previous week, which had been an uphill battle.

 

Liam comes over for dinner, and brings cupcakes, and Harry is brought back to his twenty-first birthday in LA, when all five of them had been together and healthy. Now it was just the three of them, with one teetering close to the edge.

 

Everything goes smoothly, until Louis wakes up from a nap for cake and can’t place Harry.

 

So Harry spends the rest of his birthday locked in his room, unable to deal with everything, while Liam puts the leftover cupcakes away and deals with Louis.

 

Harry doesn’t make a wish for his birthday that year, because he has nothing more to wish for.

 

He’s resigned to his fate.

 

**66**

When Harry turns sixty-six, he visits Louis at the home he’s placed in. It hadn’t been his idea, it had been Michelle and Zach’s suggestion, but as they’d sat him down and handed him a pamphlet, he realized he didn’t have much say.

 

He was getting older, he couldn’t take care of Louis anymore, it was the only option.

 

Harry found Louis, sitting in the music room, picking the strings of a guitar aimlessly. His hair had receded, but was still tousled a bit, just like it was when they were in One Direction, teenage popstars together.

 

And now they’re just another old married couple, in the midst of a long battle with a deadly illness.

 

Louis doesn’t recognize him, but he doesn’t expect him to. The Doctor said, on his last consultation with Harry, that the disease had struck Louis young and taken over quickly.

 

“It’s just poor luck,” He’d said and Harry had sat there stone face, because ‘poor luck’ didn’t even begin to cover it.

 

Harry reaches for the box he’d brought with him and pulls out the cupcake, setting it down on the table in front of Louis, “I brought you this,” He mutters and Louis looks up from the guitar, eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

 

“Who are you?” he asks, and Harry clenches his eyes shut, and swallows thickly, unable to bring himself to answer. Instead he reaches for the lighter inside his coat pocket and lights the single candle.

 

“It’s tradition,” he whispers, voice cracking as he turned to Louis, “Will you help me blow the candle out?”  
  


Louis stares for a second, before nodding slowly, leaning forward and blowing the candle out with Harry.

 

Harry wishes for only one thing this time. He wishes for Zayn and Niall to be there for Louis, when Harry can’t anymore.

 

**67**

When Harry turns sixty-seven, Louis has been gone for a little over a month. Harry’s done his best moving about his life, but the most he seems to be able to do these days is get dressed and sit in front of the blank TV.

 

Liam calls every day, just to check up on him, and Michelle and Zach drop by more than necessary, bringing food and cleaning up around Harry.

 

He tells them all not to come on his birthday though, he doesn’t want them around, and they agree after a little convincing.

 

So Harry wakes up that morning and gets dressed like he always does, and then he grabs the keys to the car and drives to the bakery Louis and him always went to, back in the very beginning stages of One Direction, when they’d shared their first flat together.

 

And an hour or so later he finds himself in front of Louis’ freshly marked grave. He carefully lowers himself down onto the ground and opens up the cupcake box, setting the pastry on the tombstone.

 

“It’s tradition,” Harry says, wiping at his eyes as he finds his lighter in his pocket and lights the candle.

 

He clenches his eyes shut and makes his last birthday wish.

 

He wishes to be reunited with Louis before his next wish came around.

 

 

**68**

 

When Harry turns sixty-eight, he doesn’t wake up.

 

It was a medical mystery to some, he’d been young, and he’d been healthy, it didn’t make sense to the Doctor’s who performed his autopsy.

 

But then again, sometimes birthday wishes, don’t make total sense.

 

They’re just granted, especially when it came to love.


End file.
